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This is my last post folks, hope you enjoyed the blog!!!

As always,

Peace, love & fashion!!!!!!!!!!

Kitson Goes Green

Kitson boutique recently joined forces with a new brand called LIV GRN, short for Live Green, which promotes the going green movement. According to their website, “LIV GRN is a statement, both in its ecological approach and in the literal message imprinted on every piece in the line... The LIV GRN ladybug logo, integral to every design, is a reminder of how fragile our ecosystem is and how much it needs our care. LIV GRN apparel is designed for everyone. Its brand philosophy is transparent: Smart, simple, savvy, affordable, ethical. Its goal is to inspire, motivate, teach and inform.”

The new LIV GRN, pink cropped tee at Kitson is only $45 and every LIV GRN purchase donates 10% of its sale to Global Green, one of the world’s largest and most recognized green charities. Global Green is led by Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz and Brad Pitt, all fabulously famous people. We all know that Kitson is no foe to celebrity clientele. Therefore, I foresee a possible publicity opportunity for the LIV GRN leaders and Kitson in the future.

Additionally, this chic new label symbolizes Kitson’s humanitarian effort towards preserving the environment. In today’s society, everyone is very environmentally conscious; therefore combing with an eco-friendly campaign is extremely appealing. The LIV GRN movement is a great way for Kitson to develop a positive image for the company, which in times of crisis could be extremely beneficial.

To purchase your LIV GRN t-shirt at Kitson click here!

Peace, love & fashion!!

Crises: Reliance on Internet

As I've discussed throughout this semester, crises can occur spontaneously and occasionally without warning. Therefore, responding to a crisis in a timely manner is crucial. However, current trends in society, technology, and the marketplace are changing the way companies respond to a crisis.

The increasing popularity of the internet has entirely changed the way companies send messages to their target publics. Internally, the booming trend of reliance on internet allows companies to utilize their website as a form of communication throughout a crisis.

After taking a look at Kitson’s website I realized it was severely lacking in many areas. First, the only way to get into direct contact with Kitson boutique is a toll-free number and a generic email address. The company appears rather careless towards customers’ needs. Secondly, I was very disappointed that the press link did not include updated media and press releases. Instead, it only displayed celebrity sightings at the boutique. Lastly, it was very evident that Kitson does not use their website as a means of communication during a crisis.

With that said, I have come up with some recommendations to revamp Kitson’s website. Fraser Ross… include press releases! It’s nice to see celebrity photos, but I want to hear to juicy details. I would also like to feel important… include the telephone numbers to your stores. Maybe I forgot my wallet in the fitting room; I do not want to go through the hassle of calling a 1-800 number when my banking card is MIA. Lastly, I know you have a Facebook fan page. Start incorporating social media links on your website.

Keeping up with today’s current social, technological and market trends is essential. The internet is a perfect way to communicate with your target audience during a crisis. Be prepared, be up-to-date!!

Peace, love & fashion!!!!

Ethical Crises

According to our book Crisis Management in the New Strategy Landscape, an ethical crisis is one that involves behavior by a company which is questionable, but does not necessarily violate the law. Typically, economic motives are linked to unethical and illegal behaviors. With factors like sales, profits and market share placing high amounts of stress on management and employees, it is not uncommon for companies to indulge in unethical behavior.

For a company like Kitson, the most common ethical crisis could result from how their products are manufactured. In a previous blog, I made reference to Camila Elves' handbag line called "Muxo." Elves' line is predominately a leather collection. Unfortunately, leather comes from animals, particularly cattle. I recently came across some unhappy bloggers on Extra.com that were questioning the manufacturing process of "Muxo" leather handbags. According to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) the slaughtering of cattle for leather has become a booming industry. PETA is an animal rights organization that claims to be the largest animal rights group in the world. Since Kitson sells "Muxo" handbags, this could result in a major crisis for the boutique.

Our book states that the best way to deal with an ethical crisis is to prevent it from happening in the first place. To an extent, the organizational culture has the final say on how ethical or unethical decision making will be in the company. In this particular case, PETA has a major role in deciding what practices, in regards to animals, are ethical or not. Kitson should research the manufacturing process of Elves' "Muxo" leather handbags in order to put a lid on cyber gossip. If in fact, Elves' handbags are created from slaughtered animals, I think it would be in Kitson's best interest to drop the line altogether. We discussed that the line isn't selling anyway. So I say, no harm, no foul!

Peace, love & fashion!!

Kitson Exposed

Fashion enthusiasts, Courtney and I, discuss Kitson Boutique through a critical lens.

It Can't Happen to Us

The phrase has become the most frequently used defensive mechanism used by managers to deny the risk of a crisis affecting them. However, companies who choose to ignore history are destined to repeat it.

Crises are inevitably. With that said, it is better to learn from them, than to deny them all together. Our textbook Crisis Management in the New Strategy Landscape talks about crises as both negative situations and opportunities for organizational learning. Important questions to ask: What crisis warning signs were missed? How can communication networks improve so the company can respond better during the next crisis?

In a previous blog I talked about Kitson Boutique’s crisis with US Weekly, and the magazine’s lack of publicity of the company. Thankfully the crisis did not tarnish Kitson’s image, yet it can be used as a learning experience for the company. Changes in the crisis management plan should be made to ensure the stability and safety of Kitson in the future. For instance, Kitson could reestablish the company’s objectives, redesign their strategies, recognize the presence of interdependence in all departments within the company or build resilience through redundancy.

Nevertheless, learning from previous mistakes is a an important part of crisis communications. If a company learns from a crisis than its crisis management plan has been successful.

Peace, Love & Fashion!!!

Using Social Media When a Crisis Occurs

The internet and social media have added new dimensions to the recently outdated practice of crisis management. Events are now reported on Twitter and Facebook, before the main stream media ever gets a word. The internet even allows bloggers the opportunity to give companies feedback. Social media is surpassing old fashioned methods of crisis communication.

Before a crisis strikes, social media can be a useful way to identify warning signs that a crisis is on the rise. The crisis management team is responsible for crisis scanning of social media relevant to their industry. This could be as simple as setting Google Alerts, running regular searches and analyzing blog mentions of their company and products. Developing Facebook pages and setting up a Twitter account are great ways to monitor company fans.

Surprisingly few companies have modified their crisis communication plans to account for the remarkable changes brought on by the internet. Kitson is no exception. I conducted a social media scan myself and found that company did not have a twitter account or a blog. Although the company had created a fan page on Facebook back in 2007, the page has not been updated in quite some time. Opening a Twitter account is a simple and should be a necessary social media tactic for all companies and organizations. Kitson’s owner, Fraser Ross could easily tweet about the company’s upcoming events, new products and celebrity clientele.

As a company that is so heavily impacted by the media, it would be extremely beneficial for Kitson to create a blog. A blog can add a feature of interactivity, as customers and stakeholders can post comments and give feedback, as well as ask the company questions. Also, blogs can be effective means for providing updated information about a crisis. Podcasts and videos are also a helpful way to reach target audiences, especially in times of crisis. The JetBlue apology on YouTube is a perfect example of how social media was succeful in resolving a crisis.

Observing social media should extend into the crisis response and post-crisis phases in order to check the progress of your crisis management efforts. Kitson should include these social media techniques in their crisis communication plan. It will force the company to keep up with constantly changing technology of the time and hopefully prevent future crises from occuring.

Peace, love & fashion!!!

Survival of the Fashionista

Robertson Boulevard is a street located in Los Angeles which passes through the incorporated cities of West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Culver City. Unlike any other street, Robertson Boulevard is considered the “Mecca” for many celebrity shoppers. With a variety of unique boutiques, designer clothing and jewelry stores such as Agnes B, Curve, Lisa Kline, Beach Bunny Swimwear, Erica Courtney and Kitson Boutique, there is no wonder why it has become a haven for paparazzi.

According to Apparelnews.net, 1969, Odd Molly and Armani Exchange recently debuted on “Glitzy St” this past week. With so many high-end retailers located on Robertson Boulevard, how does Kitson compete?

First and foremost, Kitson needs to establish a business or competitive level strategy. Our textbook, Crisis Management in the New Strategy Landscape by William Crandall, John Parnell and John Spillan, states that a business strategy “focuses on who the company should serve, what needs should be satisfied, and how a business should develop core competencies and be positioned to satisfy customer needs.”

So I created a business strategy for Kitson. The first step is to serve the consumer, which in Kitson’s case, is a small niche of upper class divas with a lot of dough. This particular niche has expensive taste. Therefore, their needs consist of designer labels, original merchandise and an atmosphere where they can be treated like royalty. Kitson positions itself to satisfy these needs by selling high-end labels like Juicy Couture, Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors online and at the boutique.

Next Kitson must determine whether the business should compete primarily by minimizing its costs relative to those of its competitors or through differentiation, which is distinguishing them self by offering unique and/or unusual products. Since the prices at Kitson are only fit for a queen, the company would take the second option and differentiate itself from the pack. Kitson already does this very well. Unlike its competitors on Glitzy St, the company does not specialize in one particular label. Although they do sell products made by the company, Kitson also offers a very diverse selection of clothing, jewelry and accessory lines, which makes them unique. Additionally, since the company’s products sell at high costs, it makes Kitson a magnet for celebrities, because seriously… what kind of star would want to wear average clothing?

Now let’s not forget that each business strategy has its own crisis-related vulnerabilities. Particularly in businesses emphasizing on differentiation, the constant threat of shifts in consumer tastes can pose a major problem for the company. Therefore, Kitson cannot just keep up with the Joneses; they must constantly survey the industry. This means doing focus groups, in order to know what’s hot and what’s not. Also, Kitson executives should attend fashion weeks in NYC and Europe, and constantly launch new product lines. The fashion industry is tough and it all comes down to survival of the fashionista.

Peace, love & fashion!!

A Strategic Analysis of Kitson LA

As an upscale celebrity boutique, Kitson’s public relations objectives are slightly different than that of a typical department store. Kitson relies heavily on its media relationships and high profile clientele. Therefore, Kitson’s overall public relations objective would be to sell their products by attracting positive media attention. If Kitson were to create a SWOT analysis plan, I think it would like this…

Strengths: Kitson has developed strong ties with A-list celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. The company’s relationship with the media is pretty tight as well.

Weaknesses: Fraser Ross and his publicists need better media training when it comes to making public statements (i.e. Line failures and Lindsay Lohan mental breakdowns).

Opportunities: Kitson is located on Roberston Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. This setting is ideal for attracting celebrities living and shopping in the Hills.

Threats: The media can do major reputational damage in general, let alone to Kitson. If the company and a tabloid are clashing, the result could end in negative publicity for Kitson.

Kitson is already in cahoots with Hollywood, so getting publicity is easy.

However, as Marilyn Monroe once said, “Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.”

For Kitson, the danger of the paparazzi and negative publicity is always going to be a common threat. Accordingly, the company’s public relations team has to always be on top of their game. Kitson’s weaknesses can be easily fixed with a little media training. Overall, the company’s SWOT anaylsis plan is right on track. Keep up the good work Ross and crew :)

Peace, love & fashion!!

Making The Cut

Apparently it is an unspoken rule that once you become a celebrity you must come out with a clothing line. From Miley Cryus to Beyonce, everyone is doing it. However, just because a celebrity can sell out the box office, it does not mean that their clothing line well be as successful. Last week I talked about how Camila Alves’ handbag line bombed at Kitson. After doing a little research, I found out that she’s not the only celebrity whose fashion line wasn’t making the cut.

The Hills reality star Lauren Conrad and Kitson made a clothing line deal back in 2008. Although her popularity in Hollywood was at a peak, her clothing line lacked sales. At the same time Kitson dropped Conrad’s line, they opted out of carrying Victoria Beckham’s dVb menswear line. Fraser Ross, the owner of Kitson, told OK! Magazines that Conrad refused to promote her line and would not make a public appearance at Kitson. Ross said, "They need to realize it's no different than selling your album, your TV shows, your movies, you have to keep promoting it."

Ross was right. The success of a product, whether it’s a handbag or skinny jeans, is a direct result of how it is promoted. If the product turns out to be a total flop, was a crisis plan intact? Have Conrad and Beckham’s publicists forgotten to make a strategic plan? A successful public relations practitioner would focus on preventing crises and mitigating when a problem occurs.

Building relationships with the media before a crisis is essential. For years Kitson has used the media to promote their products. Their relationship with the weekly magazines has been a win-win. Kitson frequently receives media attention, while all the tabloids get their daily fix of celebrity photos.

However, when a crisis does occur the company must contain the crisis and resume operations as soon as possible. For Kitson, dropping a line can cause a media frenzy. To limit negative publicity, Kitson should contact their media connections and make a public statement. This will manage the reactions of their stakeholders. Then it is time to forgive and forget the clothing line that couldn’t make the cut.

Peace, love & fashion!!

Crises and the Industry

As industries develop and change over time, competitors constantly change too. Therefore, the nature and structure of an industry will also change. As it matures, its markets are redefined. Ultimately this influences the nature of competition and profitability amongst competitors in the industry.

When the industry is young, output remains low, while product awareness is still developing. Most purchasers are first time buyers, risk tolerant and innovative. However, as the industry grows and higher production takes place, the market will soon meet saturation. The amount of first time buyers diminishes, and purchasers are upgrades or replacements.

In the fashion industry, every designer is trying to outdo their competitors. This healthy competition usually leads to profit for the manufactures. However, when sales reach a decline, due to influences like the current economy, a trend occurs when consumers run to more convenient, safer or high-quality offerings from firms in substitute industries. Therefore, some companies will try to divest their business units or “reinvent” themselves. Others become weaker and more prone to crises.

The current economic crisis has hit Americans check books hard and forced them to be more sales conscious. When it comes to designer names only the rich can afford to keep up. Therefore, when Kitson decided to team up with Camila Alves and her new line of Brazilian handbags, they were taking a huge leap of faith.

With the economy plummeting, consumers are going to shop for convenience, whether that means settling for non-designer bags or hitting up TJ Maxx for the next best thing. While the wealthy will stick to the safest bet, Chanel and Louis Vuitton bags, to get more quality for their buck.

Therefore it is no surprise that Camila’s handbags were a flop. Kitson claims to have spent $50,000 on Camila Alves Muxo handbags and ended up with a $25,000 deficit. Kitson also believes that Camila is pricing her bags too high. Although she may be the mother of Matthew McConnaughey’s children, she isn’t famous enough yet to not have to promote her line. Although I did see her on Chelsea Lately about a week or so ago, that was the first time I have ever heard about Muxo handbags.

Kitson may soon be facing a cat fight with Ms. Alves. I say avoid the crisis and get out while you still can!! Stick to the labels you know are selling like House of Harlow. For more juicy gossip about this topic, check out this article at celebrityclothingline.com!

Peace, love & handbags.... lol

A Strategic Approach to Crisis Management

A crisis is any situation, be that a legal dispute, theft, accident, natural or manmade disaster, that could threaten the integrity or reputation of a company. Additionally, a crisis can occur if the media or the general public believes a company did not react to a situation in an appropriate manner.

Most crises do not occur out of the blue. However, that does not make dealing with a crisis any easier. When faced with a crisis, a company can view it as an obstacle or an opportunity. Obviously the better option would be to turn the crisis into an opportunity, and if handled correctly the damage to your company can be minimized. Having a crisis communication team intact is crucial. This could include the CEO, the head of the Public Relations department, safety and security office and legal counsel. The job of the crisis communication team is to decide a plan of action and select a company spokesperson.

The best action to take when faced with a crisis is to remain calm, tell the truth and tell it in a timely manner. Never ignore a situation because that will only make it worse. Put yourself in the situation of whoever is in the crisis and try to view it from their perspective. Then decide how to best position your company to the public eye. Remember that the goal is to protect the integrity and reputation of the company.

Being in the public eye can have its advantages and its drawbacks, and Kitson is no exception. Being one of the most celebrity-saturated boutiques in Hollywood, Kitson gets a lot of media attention. However, not all media attention is positive and sometimes being in the limelight can be inconvenience.

In 2006, Kitson was in an ugly legal dispute with the tabloid Us Weekly. Kitson declared that Us Weekly was intentionally omitting any mention of the store in its issues because of prior legal disagreements. The quarrel between the two parties began early in the year when an Us Weekly editor threw a private charity party at Kitson and never paid for it. The feud finally went public when the magazine called the boutique a snob.

The crisis: the lack of publicity in Us Weekly was costing Kitson $10,000 a week.

How should the company have dealt with the situation? Kitson should have used the lack of exposure in Us Weekly as an opportunity to reach out to other media outlets. By granting VIP access to launch parties and celebrity appearances, Kitson could have improved relations with the other tabloids. Acting proactively could have saved Kitson a lot of stress and money.

The benefit of dealing with a crisis is learning from the experience. In the future, if Kitson has to go to battle with another tabloid they will already have a crisis plan intact. To read more juicy gossip between Kitson and Us Weekly click here!

Peace, love & fashion!!

Welcome Fashionista!

In this blog I will be focusing on Kitson. Kitson is a favorite stop for many celebrities when shopping for the latest trends in clothes, shoes, handbags and accessories. I will try to apply the information I learn from the textbook and in-class discussion to developing crisis communication strategies for Kitson. For example, Professor Laskin explained that crisis can be caused by an outside or inside error (deliberate or not). Kitson, for example, can potentially face crises from such inside causes as employee misbehavior and product failure, or from such outside causes like the current economic crisis and outrageous celebrity mishaps. Take Lindsay Lohan for example; when Kitson offered her $500 of free merchandise this past November, the diva through a fit and demanded $15,000 worth of free stuff. Dealing with the press alone on that particular event could have been a major crisis!! To read more about Lohan's tantrum click here.

Peace, love & fashion!!

DISCLAIMER

This is a student's blog for Crisis Communication class at Quinnipiac University. As such, I as the author of this blog make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. Opinions expressed on this blog are MacKenzie Liptak's personal opinions and do not represent opinion of the Quinnipiac University or opinion of the instructor of the class.